Adoption Notice:  Cambodia

December 24, 2009

On December 3, 2009, a new law on intercountry adoption was signed by the King of the Government of Cambodia.  The new law seeks to create a country-wide comprehen­sive child welfare system and an intercountry adoption process in compliance with the Hague Intercountry Adoption Convention.  This is an important first step in Cambodia’s expressed commitment to reforming its child welfare system and in seeking to meet its treaty obligations under the Convention.  Cambodia has indicated that the processing of all intercountry adoptions throughout the country will be suspended until the law is fully implemented and necessary procedures are in place.

At this time, it is not possible to estimate when Cambodia might resume processing intercountry adoptions or when adoptions will be able to resume between the United States and Cambodia.  In order to implement the new law fully, Cambodia will first need to establish the necessary government structures to support it, draft and finalize prakas (Ministerial orders/regulations), and determine and fill staffing and training needs.  Issues related to transparency in fees, procedural safeguards, determination of a child’s eligibility for intercountry adoption, criminal penalties and the creation of a strat­egy to formalize and strengthen the domestic adoption system will all need to be effec­tively addressed. 

The United States continues to support Cambodia’s desire to create a child welfare system and an intercountry adoption process that fulfills its obligations under the Hague Intercountry Adoption Convention and welcomes its efforts to fully implement the new law on intercountry adoption. 

Updated information will be provided on www.adoption.state.gov as it becomes available. 

Notice from US State Department:  Guatemala

December 8, 2009

CNA’s announcement of a Two-year Limited Pilot Program

On November 20, 2009 the Department of State received a letter from the Guatemalan National Council on Adoptions (CNA) – the Guatemalan Central Authority — announcing its intention to launch a limited two-year pilot program that will allow for the adoption of a small number of older children, groups of siblings, and children with special needs.  The CNA has invited the Central Authorities of Hague Convention partner countries to express interest in participating in this program, in which four countries will be chosen to participate among countries that express interest.  The program is designed to re-open Guatemala’s Intercountry adoptions while ensuring compliance with the Hague Convention.  The CNA has so far provided little detail about how the pilot program would function.

After significant deliberation, the Department of State, in consultation with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), decided to express interest in learning more about the pilot program.  Although we remain deeply concerned about the history of malfeasance in intercountry adoptions from Guatemala, we responded positively because of our strong interest in assisting Guatemala to reform its adoption system. 

This expression of interest on the part of the United States does not mean that new adoptions from Guatemala will start any time soon, and prospective parents should not make any plans to start new adoptions in Guatemala at this time.  Our expression of interest does not in any way signal that DOS has found Guate­mala’s intercountry adoption procedures in compliance with the Hague Convention on Adoption.  There is no pilot program yet, only a statement of intent from the CNA to start one.  Although the United States has ex­pressed interest in learning more about the proposed pilot program, we cannot commit to participating until we understand how the program will be designed and determine whether it is something in which the United States should participate.  We do not know if the CNA will accept the United States as one of the participants.

We also cannot predict how the pilot program will affect grandfathered cases currently being processed by the Guatemalan government. We will keep you updated on how the Guatemalan pilot program develops and whether the United States will be a participant.

Adoption Options can assist a local family with readoption process in the state of CA. Please contact our office if you have any questions about readoption 619-294-7772.

1) A Legal & Binding U.S. Birth Certificate

Whether your child is getting a driver’s license or adopting one day, your child will need a copy of her birth certificate at different points in her lifetime. It would be much easier for your child to seek a copy of her birth certificate through your state’s department of vital records than try to get one (if it still exists) in her birth country.

2) A Legal Name Change Can Be Completed

If you desire to have your child’s name legally changed, re-adoption is the time to complete this change.

3) Re-adoption Is Another Reason to Have a Party!

Re-adoption gives you another day to plan an event to celebrate your child’s adoption. Re-adoption may be a hassle, but the hassle may be worth it in the long run.

Thank you to Dr. Michelle Dern for speaking at our October Parent Support Group. Dr. Dern is a local Pediatrician who has many years of experience working with internationally adopted children.  

She discussed the importance of pre-adoption assessment, items for travel medical kit, and post-adoption evaluation. In particular, she informed our families of the importance of vaccination (flu, Hep A and B, etc.) not only for adoptive parents and adoptees, but for the all household members.

Dr. Dern shared that there is a new blood test to determine if a child was exposed or is positive for TB. Please check with your Pediatrician to find our more information.

If you would like to contact Dr. Dern, please call El Camino Pediatrics at (760)-753-7143.

Alert:  Ukraine

November 5, 2009

Dear Members of the American Adoption Community:

On November 3, 2009, Ukraine’s central adoption authority, the State Department for Adoption and Protection of the Rights of the Child (SDAPRC) informed the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv that it was suspending the issuances of referrals for both Ukrainian and foreign adoptive parents to visit Ukrainian orphanages due to the increased incidence of H1N1 in Ukraine.  According to this notice, no prospective adoptive parents (either Ukrainian or from other countries) will be allowed to visit orphanages to meet their prospective adoptive children beginning November 3, 2009, until the measures taken by the Ukrainian Government are lifted. These measures include a cancellation of large public gatherings and suspension of school and university classes, but do not include travel restrictions.  The SDAPRC will keep all pre-scheduled appointments and the adoptive families will still be able to choose children from the database, but these families will not be able to visit children and start the adoption process in the regions.  Alternatively, foreign families may cancel their appointments at SDAPRC (they do not need to do anything special to cancel these appointments) and their appointments will be re-scheduled as soon as the Ukrainian government’s temporary measures are ended. 

 As of the posting of this notice, it is unclear how long this suspension will remain in effect, but according to the SDAPRC it may last from three to six weeks, unless the Ukrainian government decides to end the H1N1 measures sooner.    

 According to the SDAPRC, several foreign families with the referrals issued on November 2, 2009, were already denied access to the orphanages. 

 The SDAPRC was required to enact this suspension in accordance with the Decree Number 3813 issued by the Ukrainian Minister for Family, Youth and Sports Yuriy Pavlenko, dated October 30, 2009.  This decree was issued based on the Resolution of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine Number 1152, dated October 30, 2009. 

We will continue to monitor the situation and will post updates as they become available.  This notice has also been posted on our website at  Adoption.State.Gov/news/notices.html.